The Thirteen Ghosts
by Trouble Twins
Summary: *Post-Hogwarts* The Chest of Demons has been opened. Now it's up to four people, the ones who opened it, to retrieve the evil spirits they accidentally let escape. Unfortunately, it's not that easy.


Author(s): Diva-Elf and The Plot Bunny Whisperer Tittle: The Thirteen Ghosts Rating: PG Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Romance; Summary: The Chest of Demons has been opened. Now it's up to four people, the ones who opened it, to retrieve the evil spirits they accidentally let escape. Unfortunately, it's not that easy.  
  
- ~ Baniigaaru-chan ~  
  
* Diva-Elf *  
  
:italics:  
  
::actions::  
  
*bold*  
  
-  
  
As/N: ~ We finally have something up! ~  
  
* Yep, about time, ne? *  
  
~ ::glares:: Don't Use. My. Words. ~  
  
* ::shrugs:: Whatever. *  
  
~ Anyway. We finally got off our lazy arses and put one of our promised chapters up. Yay us! ^-^ (Self inserts and possibility of Mary Sue notwithstanding...) ~  
  
* And this time it :wasn't: my idea. *  
  
~ ::wryly:: Sure, pin it all on me. ~  
  
* Okay! *  
  
~ Grrs. Anyway, all, enjoy! ~  
  
-  
  
POV: Pheonixx Neckhonsupakhered Kiyoitsukikage  
  
- Prologue: Opening the Chest -  
  
McDrewry Manor was big. Really big. It was like a large, ominous castle of evil. bigness.  
  
Unfortunately, it was the next house on the list of "Houses To Raid Because They Carry Really Evil Artifacts."  
  
My name is Pheonixx Neckhonsupakhered Kiyoitsukikage. Quite a mouthful, isn't it? Mum and Dad have a strange sense of humor. My twin sister, Diva, has a name just as long, but it's a bit easier to say because she has two middle names. See, Papa comes from Japan, and Mum comes from Egypt, and they both happen to have long names. I guess they thought it would be funny if we had the same. But as the oldest by three hours, I got the one harder to say. Lucky me, ne?  
  
Anyway, I work for a secret part of the British Ministry of Magic. It's so secret, only four people work in the department. In fact, it's so secret no one knows it's name. Not even me, and I work in it. Although it does have a technical name, we call it the Junk Collector Department. And we're the Collectors.  
  
Oh, right, you might want to know who else works with me. Well, my sister, Deovonna Rina Hitomi Kiyoitsukikage, her fiancé Harold Jamieson Potter, and Harry's old dorm-mate Neville Alexander Longbottom. It's just us four, but it's not like we actually need help, or anything. We get into enough trouble on our own.  
  
What we do is pretty simple, once you get over the fact that we have to go into the homes of ex-Death Eaters and possibly risk our lives to do our job. But that's what makes it fun, I guess. Our job is to go around into DE houses that have been de-curse-ified by the Aurors and Unspeakables and collect ancient evil artifacts. Then we bring them back to the Junk Heap (that's what we call our own private tiny three story office/home) and make sure either no one can get they're hands on them or that they won't cause any trouble. Usually we find duds, but sometimes we get the real thing.  
  
Like this time. I knew, the moment we stepped into that really freaky castle-like place, that our job was about to get a lot harder.  
  
And I never liked Divination.  
  
-  
  
Inside the house was just as spooky as the outside. Aside from spiders, I wasn't really afraid of anything, but this place just really rubbed me the wrong way. Although, I had to admit, Laura McDrewry-Lestrange had good taste when it came to decoration.  
  
Was that a Ming Vase...?  
  
"Ouch!" I glared at Diva as she slapped my hand. "What was that for?"  
  
"We aren't here for the pottery, Phee. I don't think that vase is particularly evil."  
  
"Looked evil to me," I muttered as I rubbed my smarting hand. "Would have looked more evil on the coffee table, though." Harry and Neville just sighed and rolled their eyes. They were used to us, after all. We've known each other for ten years.  
  
We continued, and this time I made sure to wistfully eye the pottery and china from a distance.  
  
By the time we finished with the foyer, we had forty-three rooms and three stories more to go, as well as an underground dungeon/labyrinth/catacomb and an attic. Sometimes I really hated old family homes, never mind that the one we lived in was just as confusing if not more so.  
  
"We should split up," Neville spoke as he ran his wand over a bare section of the wall. "We can cover more ground that way. Remember Malfoy Manor?"  
  
We shuddered. Oh, yes, we remembered. Creepier than this place, but a whole mess bigger. It took us five days to complete our raid, two weeks to go through everything we confiscated from there, and another just to fill out the paperwork. Not only did I get lost at least a bazillion times, but it gave me one huge headache. Not that that would have been unusual. I'm known (at least to us Junkies) as the Perpetual Headache. Grr. I hate that nickname. Figures Diva would have given it to me.  
  
"I'll take the catacombs," Diva said. She waved and left through the far door. Harry took the second story, Neville stayed on the ground floor, and I took the third floor.  
  
By the time I actually reached it, I was once again thanking Mum and Papa most generously for forcing me to take Self Defense lessons at the dojo in Tokyo. Not that I didn't like it, it was sort of fun actually, but I would have much rather spent the time swimming in manga and doujinshi. But we can't have everything in life.  
  
I skipped the rooms that I knew would be useless to search, such as the bathrooms and the rooms already searched by other people in the ministry. The rooms unmarked I checked, but I didn't find anything.  
  
The third floor master bedroom was lavishly furnished. Obviously, it was mister and missus Lestrange's bedroom. I scanned my wand over the walls and floor, and then over the back of the wardrobe. It was empty, as were the dressers, but I found something interesting in a secret compartment of Laura Lestrange's jewelry box, a ring. I remembered seeing a picture of it in a book about Atlantis. I sealed that away, along with a ruby brooch once worn by the evil sorceress Kiadrenne.  
  
Diva passed by on my way out.  
  
"Hey Di-Ri. Find anything?" Diva grimaced.  
  
"Unfortunately. I found their potions laboratory. You do not want to go there." She paused, then reconsidered. "Well, okay, maybe you would." I grinned. Me and potions had a strange relationship. I brewed them, they blew up. Bigger than Neville's when Snape was breathing down his neck. (Professor Snape made sure to never partner us together.)  
  
Diva continued.  
  
"They had some pretty illegal stuff in there, but nothing worth Collecting." I nodded, and we parted, her heading for the fourth floor, I heading for the next room on the floor.  
  
I didn't find much else. A few ancient Russian swords, a cursed Byzantine spear, the Belt of Gonad the Gory, the usual. As I was reaching the far end of the floor, my Fama Orb went off and Neville's voice rang out.  
  
":Hey, guys? I think you'd better come take a look at this:." Curious, I headed towards the attic, where Neville said he'd be after he checked the ground floor.  
  
I met up with Harry on the way up, he just as curious. I opened the small door and slipped into the musty room, holding back a cough and a sneeze at all the dust floating in the air. Damn allergies. Neville was crouched in front of a strange dark purple chest. A dark metal ram's head, like the zodiac sign for Aries, kept the chest locked. On the sides and top was a design like a spider's web.  
  
"What is it?" Harry asked, looking over my shoulder.  
  
I crouched down and ran my hands over the wood. When I pulled back, my hand was extremely dirty. I wrinkled my nose and wiped the dust off on my pants. I did a cleaning spell to rid the chest of the rest of the grime.  
  
"I don't know, but it's very old." I frowned, eyeing the ram's head clasp. In some cultures, the ram's head symbolized honor and purity. In others, it symbolized spirits and evil. But this one had red eyes, so it was obviously the latter. I stared a bit longer and was creeped out. If I didn't know better, I'd say :it: was looking :me:.  
  
I stood up. "We better take it with us. I can look it up at home."  
  
That decided, the chest was sealed away, and we were out of there- after Neville had finished checking the rest of the attic, that is.  
  
-  
  
Back at home and three days later, I was still puzzled by it. It wasn't in any of my books, and I had a lot. All I had was a name, but it was in a language I've never heard or seen before. There was also something else, possibly a warning, but it was in the same language. ""*:Sru Lesta rx Damhai-re:*". :Vetekiroh röhn hano-re sre lesta enre danhta vanu-tirti rx sru svemr-ru kauti-re. Rink ïmiu echo mindon ïmiu ï ïmiu rïel rx banva lävahnv:."  
  
... Whatever the heck :that: meant.  
  
I was mondo-stressed. I was having trouble with my long-time boyfriend, Alan, and I had paperwork overflowing my inbox. Add in the chest, and man, did :I: need a vacation!  
  
I looked over at the chest. It was an atrocious-looking thing. It clashed with everything in the room. I would have much rather preferred the vase, but... oh well.  
  
Diva sat at the desk across from mine, playing with a quill while glaring thoughtfully at the chest. Neville was perched behind it, looking it over again. I didn't know where Harry was. I think he went to make himself a sandwich.  
  
"Any luck, guys?" Harry poked his head into the room. I yawned.  
  
"Nope. All I've got is some weirdo name and something else I can't translate." I shrugged and closed the book. It was no help anyway.  
  
"Too bad Hermione isn't here," Neville muttered. I glared at him, and he grinned sheepishly. "No offense, Phee, but I'm sure she would have been able to figure it out by now." I huffed and crossed my arms.  
  
"I think we should just open it," Diva spoke up. We stared at her. "What?"  
  
"Are you crazy?" Harry asked her, looking at her incredulously. "We don't know what it is. With our luck, it could be extremely dangerous. Opening it would probably bring the apocalypse." Diva rolled her eyes.  
  
"Oh, come :on:, Harry, opening a chest never hurt anyone!" She stood and knelt in front of the chest. The three of us rushed to stop her, but it was too late.  
  
The latch lifted up.  
  
A bright, blood red light poured out, and evil laughter from a dozen or more sources echoed throughout the room. A strong gale of wind whipped through my precious library, scattering paper, quill, and book. Just as suddenly, it stopped, an everything was back to normal, save for the huge mess my library was in.  
  
"My :library:!" I moaned, sinking to my knees. Other than that, there was silence, as Harry and Neville stared at a wide-eyed Di. Then the chest closed with a loud snap.  
  
"I don't want to say this, but I told you so," Harry said solemnly to my sister.  
  
"What just happened?" asked a confused and shocked Neville. I could barely hear them.  
  
"My *:library:*!" I cried again. I turned to Diva, furious. "Shimatta! Look what you did! Do you know how long it took me to get it perfect? I- I- :Omae o korosu:!" Diva smiled nervously.  
  
"Well, nothing bad happened, did it? I mean, no one's hurt..." I lunged at her but was caught and held back by Harry and Neville.  
  
"I ought to-! Let me go, you brainless dolts!" They held me long enough for Di to run. I growled but calmed down, then turned back to my destroyed library. It'd take me forever to put it back together.  
  
Oh, well. At least things couldn't get much worse. I knew immediately after thinking them that I had made a big mistake.  
  
Famous last words, ne?  
  
-  
  
Later that day, my library looked much better but wasn't perfect again. Diva was hiding from me, as I hadn't seen her since. Harry and Neville were once again going over the chest, which was open. It looked ordinary on the inside, but I knew better. There were powerful charms imbedded in the wood, I was surprised none of us had detected them earlier. They felt thousands of years old.  
  
"I don't get it," Harry said, sounding exhausted and frustrated. "What happened?"  
  
"You mean other than a messed up library, a light, and evil laughter?" Neville looked up. We scowled at him and he raised his hands in surrender.  
  
As I moved to start working on the next bookshelf, I stumbled. I looked down to see what I stepped on and was looking at a small book with the same symbol as the one on the chest. I picked it up, confused. I didn't remember buying this. I sat down and opened it. On the front page were the same words that I had already found: *Sru Lesta rx Damhai-re*. But underneath it were more: "The Chest of Demons". I gasped, horrified, then looked over at the chest.  
  
"Oh, great Dragon, what have we done?" I was suddenly not just angry at Diva, I was extremely angry, not to mentioned worried and frightened.  
  
"What is it?" Neville asked, concerned.  
  
"That is the Chest of Demons," I told him, still staring at the box. I turned back to the book and looked to see if I could find more translations. I found them, and read them out loud. "'Vetekiroh röhn hano- re sre lesta enre danhta vanu-tirti rx sru svemr-ru kauti-re. Rink ïmiu echo mindon ïmiu ï ïmiu rïel rx banva lävahnv.'" I paused, then continued. "'Whomever so opens this chest will unleash thirteen of the greatest evils. Only they can return them to their place of eternal imprisonment.'"  
  
-  
  
We had a strange visitor that night. Around seven thirty, the doorbell rang. We were sitting in the lounge in front of the fire, I reading and contemplating the various ways to kill my sister, Di-Ri (who had arrived around dinner time) and Harry going over the wedding plans, and Neville half-asleep. I thwaped him on the head so I wouldn't have to put my book down but all he did was glare at me and go back to sleep. I book-marked my page and got up, irritated.  
  
I opened the door to a middle aged man dressed in a grey suit and dark purple cape. He wore a black top hat, white gloves, and black pseudo- alligator boots. In one hand was a strait mahogany staff with a clear crystal (or diamond) fastened by gold prongs. He had black hair with two wavy white streaks above each ear on either side of his head.  
  
He looked like a muggle magician.  
  
"May I help you?" I was wondering if he had gotten the wrong house. He swept off his top hat and bowed.  
  
"My name is Kinter deGoulmer, my lady. I was wondering if I may speak with you a moment." He straitened and looked at me expectantly. I was getting suspicious.  
  
"On what business?" I asked, not budging. His grey eyes twinkled, reminding me of Professor Dumbledore.  
  
"About the Chest of Demons that was opened, my dear." Surprised, I let him in and led him to the lounge.  
  
"Guys." Diva and Harry looked up. Neville blinked sleepily and glanced up as well.  
  
"Who's he?" asked Di-Ri curiously. Once again, the man bowed.  
  
"The name's Kinter deGoulmer. I'm here to speak with the person or persons who opened the Chest of Demons." The three of them sat up straighter.  
  
"How do you know about that?" Harry asked harshly, eyes narrowed. The man merely smiled.  
  
"My family has been guarding the secret of the Chest for many generations, mister Potter. When I felt the disturbance it made when it was opened, I immediately came to see what happened." I, Harry, and Neville looked at Di- Ri. She shrank under our looks.  
  
"What?"  
  
"We told you not to open it, Di-Ri," I said, frowning.  
  
"It doesn't matter who opened the chest," mister deGoulmer interrupted, stopping an argument before it started. "What matters is that you four retrieve the ones who escaped."  
  
"What do you mean?" Neville asked, yawning.  
  
"I think he means the 'thirteen of the greatest evils'," I said quietly. Mister deGoulmer nodded.  
  
"That's right. When the chest was opened, thirteen spirits escaped. They were trapped there by my ancestor, Vincent deGoulmer, centuries ago. Since then, my family has guarded it and it's secret so no one would make the mistake of opening it and releasing them. But over three decades ago, the chest disappeared. I had no idea of it's whereabouts until earlier this day, when I felt that it had been opened."  
  
"So what do we do?" Diva set aside her quill, standing up.  
  
"You four, having been the closest to the chest when it opened, must retrieve the spirits and put them back," deGoulmer answered. "It won't be easy. All thirteen will try to take the chest away from you, for whichever of them has it becomes the most powerful. They will also have other spirits or creatures working for them, and they will also try to take the chest or stop you from trapping the thirteen ghosts. They will also seem like ordinary spirits, people, or creatures."  
  
"How will we know when we run into one?" I asked him. He reached into his cape and pulled out what looked like a crystal ball.  
  
"This is the Orb of Ghosts. When near one of the Thirteen, it will shine red. You can also talk to me through it." He handed me the orb and pulled a second one out of his cape. He demonstrated by waving a hand over his. I jumped as his face appeared in mine. When he spoke, it echoed out of the other one. "This way, I can help you on your quest."  
  
"Why don't you just come with us?" Neville asked. Mister deGoulmer shook his head.  
  
"I can't. You four let them out, so you four must retrieve them. It's your responsibility."  
  
"I knew our luck would come into play," Harry muttered.  
  
-  
  
How right he was. We were in for an adventure bigger than anything we had been through before. Capturing the Thirteen Ghosts wasn't easy; it was dangerous and adventurous- yet also fun.  
  
And that's how it started. The chase for the Thirteen Ghosts was on! 


End file.
